Blizzard of Emotions

Before reviving Nurejew (banished from Moscow's Bolshoi) with Staatsballett Berlin at the end of March, Yuri Possokhov premiered Eugene Onegin with the San Francisco Ballet. The production marks a major homecoming. Although Possokhov has held the title of choreographer in residence here since retiring from the stage in 2006, he’s made all his full-length works for other companies, mainly the Bolshoi and the Joffrey (which co-commissioned this Onegin and will dance it in Chicago this June). Now acclaimed internationally, Possokhov could have taken on any story he wished for this return. So why choose Onegin when John Cranko’s 1965 version to Tchaikovsky is so well known? January’s premiere gave us the long-awaited answer. It seems Possokhov didn’t want to do anything radically new with the ...